Who Yinzpires You?

100 Interviews Complete!

I started Yinzpiration in 2010. I had never blogged before and I was eager to embark on a quest to meet and celebrate 100 Pittsburghers.

Five years later, 100 interviews are complete and I feel excitement, gratitude, and yes a little bit of relief.

Here are some highlights, challenges, and a few things I’ve learned along the way.

Highlights:

- Experiencing so many different Pittsburgh neighborhoods and coffee shops!

- Several interviewees mentioned the features helped them connect with peopel they might not otherwise have met. A few were asked about it on job interviews and a handful even went on a date or two. #yinzromance for the win!

- A young couple once introduced themselves to me and told me Yinzpiration helped them decide to move to Pittsburgh. Um … yay!

- Nominations rolled in on a daily basis. One things for sure, there is NO shortage of yinzpiring peeps in this city.

- The 57 Reasons project was super exciting and fun. (I think we can all agree that #51 never gets old.)

Challenges:

- Getting the meetings on the calendar. People are busy! It was important for me to conduct them in person but phone calls would have been so much faster.

- There were way more nominations than interview spots. (This is why there needs to be more interview blogs!)

- Keeping up the momentum. 100 interviews is a lot of interviews. I have never regretted my choice to do this project, but thinking about starting the process over makes me feel … exhausted!

On a personal level, writing Yinzpiration unlocked many opportunities.

But the #1 thing I am most grateful for after 5 years of blogging and interviews is that Yinzpiration helped me find my voice. It took about two weeks to put together the first post together and I was SO nervous to share it. 100 interviews later I still get a bit of a nervous rush to press publish, but it's easier and I do not let it paralyze me.

Onward!

I’ll be the first to admit that this past year I began to drag my feet even though I was so close to completing the project. Propelle was taking off and I was craving focus. Yinzpiration took the back burner. How could I end something that has been so meaningful and life-changing?

Another thing that had also been holding me back was that I had promised you a big party celebration, but I finally had to admit to myself that my heart was just not committed to making the logistics happen.

In thinking about it more, the reason I was attracted to having a party is because I really wanted a time to hear about YOUR favorite moments of the project.

The good news is we can totally do this without having to block off a date during this busy time of year! (Hooray for the internet!)

So in lieu of a big bash, would you join me in celebrating Yinzpiration virtually?

And if virtual is not your thing, how about asking one person you’d like to get to know better for a coffee date. This I can most certainly guarantee will change your life for the better.

So this is it, yinz.

These 100 interviews are my gift to you. (You can imagine them wrapped up in a glittery black and yellow bow!)

While I won’t be posting on this blog anymore and I’ll be laying the social media accounts to rest, Yinzpiration will always live on because we all know it extends much further than an online presence.

Yinzpiration is within YOU, and it’s our job to recognize it in ourselves and in the people we meet.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for playing along and for nominating your friends. Thank you for your tweets and social media shares. Thank you for your constructive criticism and for telling me when there were typos. Thank you for taking time out of your day to have coffee with me. And a very special thanks to my husband, Nik, for being my creative partner and designing and maintaining the site